Red Light on the Wedding Night Vice Versa
by LukeNLorelaifanatic
Summary: What if, instead of Lorelai calling off the wedding, Max did. Lorelai didn't love Max, but didn't feel right about calling it off so soon before the wedding. Why did Max back out? Is he hiding something?
1. Troubles be gone

Rory was sitting on her bed, divulged in a book. It was quiet, peaceful, and Rory was really getting into the book and then Lorelai came barging in.

"Pack!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Rory asked, looking up from her book and at her mother.

"Pack." Lorelai repeated, beginning to open up drawers.

"What's going on?" Rory asked her, confused.

"We are hitting the road." Lorelai told her.

"What?"

"Pack everything. Traveling light is for girls."

"What's going on here? Why are we hitting the road?" Rory asked, trying to get something out of her mother as to why she was acting crazy.

"We haven't taken a road trip in forever and the weather is perfect."

"We can't take a road trip. You're getting married this weekend." Rory reminded her.

_What's going on with her? She's getting married this weekend! Why does she suddenly want to hit the road?_ Rory wondered.

"Do you have my blue swimsuit?" Lorelai asked, ignoring her last comment.

"What about Max?"

"Sunscreen, we need sunscreen." Lorelai said, still ignoring her.

_Uh oh. Something happened. _Rory thought when her mother ignored her.

"Mom, stop."

"What?" she asked, stopping in her tracks and facing her daughter.

"Are you and Max getting married?"

"No." Lorelai said quietly.

"Why?" Rory asked incredulously.

Lorelai then began to cry, suprising Rory.

"Because, he called it off." she sobbed.

_Woah, woah, woah. Something is definitely not right here! Oh my God. He called it off? He called it off! Ok, no time to panic here. I have to be here for my mom._

"Where are we going?" Rory asked her.

"We don't have to." Lorelai began.

"Hot, cold, rocky, sandy, mountain, valley?"

"I didn't really have a particular spot."

"Packing for all contingencies. Got it. Light layers."

"Yeah, light layers."

"Do you need a book?" Rory asked, walking over to her bookshelf.

"Um, that Colette biography."

"I lost your place in it." Rory said, giving her an apologetic look.

"That's okay. I have to start over anyway."

"You got it."

"And hurry."

"Are we going tonight?"

"First thing in the morning."

"Seven-ish?"

"Five-ish."

"Wow."

"It'll be more like six-ish."

"Let's shoot for five-ish."

"You are crazy, and I love it." Lorelai exclaimed, thankful to have such a supporting daughter.

xox

That night was a very uncomfortable one for both. Rory wanted to know why Max had called off the wedding, but didn't want to upset her mother by asking. Lorelai wanted desperately to tell her, but was trying to put it aside her mind right now. After they had finished packing, they had both gone directly to bed, exhausted.

Rory was deeply concerned for her mother and wanted to be there for her. She wanted more than anything to comfort her, but she couldn't really comfort her if she didn't know all the details. For now, all she could was be there for her mother and support her.

_Why? Why would he do this to her? He was the one who proposed. They had come this far. What had gone wrong? I just don't understand. He seemed to really want to marry my mom. He bought her a thousand yellow daisies for God's sake! How could he do this to her the week of their wedding! He totally humiliated her._ Rory thought as she lay in bed. She was really angry with Max at the moment, but she knew she shouldn't be until she knew the real reason as to why all of this happened.

xox

Lorelai lay in bed, tears streaming down her face. She tried not to cry, tried to forget about everything that had happened. But, that seemed to prove more difficult. Today had been one of the worst days of her life. She had been dumped. But, not just dumped and no longer in a relationship, but dumped and no longer in an engagement which would have turned into a marriage as of this weekend. She closed her eyes, silently crying herself to sleep.

xox

"Honey, are you ready to go?" Lorelai asked early the next morning, knocking on her daughters bedroom door.

Rory walked over and opened the door, suitcase in hand.

"You bet. I'm all ready and set." she said, smiling at her mother.

Lorelai smiled back at her daughter and then pulled her in for a hug.

"Thank you for doing this." she whispered into her ear.

"I'd do anything for you mom, you know that." Rory whispered back.

The two of them walked out of their house and to Lorelai's jeep, loading up their belongings. They got in and Lorelai drove through the deserted streets of Stars Hollow.

"Wow, totally deserted." Rory said, looking around the town square.

"We're the last ones left." Lorelai said.

"So are we almost there?" Rory asked jokingly.

"We're almost there and nowhere near it. All that matters is we're going."

"We're practically gone already."

"Look out world." she said, before stopping at a red light, both staring at it.

-----

**A/N: **Fic number eight. And one more to come. I might publish the next one tomorrow, though. I know it wasn't much, but I couldn't really do anything with this chapter. The next one will be better. I bet you wanna know why Max called off the wedding, huh? Well, you'll find out soon enough.


	2. Run away little girl

**A/N: **Ok, this chapter is going to be my account of how The Roadtrip to Harvard went. It'll have some things from that episode in it, though.

-----

The two Gilmore girls were driving down random roads aimlessly. They had been in the car for a few hours now, and the ride was beginning to get to them. They hadn't been in a car for this long in a while, and it was making them restless and irritated. Rory had been reading one of her books intently before Lorelai started whining for her to entertain her.

"Mom." Rory sighed. "There's not much entertaining I can do while stuck in such little space we have here in this car."

"Come on, Rory. There has to be something to talk about."

When Rory heard this, she felt the need to ask why, exactly, Max had called off the wedding. But, she knew she couldn't do that. Not yet, at least, anyway. So, instead, she tried to come up with topics to talk about, but it seemed like they all related to weddings, engagements, churches... which would remind her of a wedding, romance, and all that jazz. She honestly had no idea what to do.

"Rory." Lorelai said exasperatedly.

"What? Oh, sorry. I don't know, mom. It's your call. You choose the topic."

"Hmm, well, what are you reading?" she asked.

"This?" Rory said, looking down at her book.

"Yeah."

Without thinking, Rory began to summarize the book she was reading for her mother.

"It's about this girl, Elizabeth Bennet, the second oldest of five daughters. Her parents are trying to get her to marry a wealthy man, but Elizabeth doesn't really care about it all. She meets this one guy, Mr. Darcy, and despises him. He's rude, snobby, and prideful. But, as the book progresses, the two of them fall in love and get engaged and finally marr... oh." Rory said when she saw the look on her mothers face.

Lorelai, who had been listening to her daughter, felt a slight jab at her heart. Her face fell, all of this was bringing back painful memories from the night before. She tried to put it all aside and pay attention to her daughter, but it hurt too much.

"Mom," Rory said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Lorelai looked over at Rory and gave her a fake smile.

"It's fine, sweetie." she said. "Oh! You want to play the license plate game?"

Rory, who felt extremely bad for upsetting her mother, put on a fake smile as well at her mothers enthusiasm.

"Sure, but, remember, I was the last champion."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that this time." Lorelai said as she began looking at other cars' lisence plates.

xox

Rory was looking at a map, trying to find the best routes to take. She became paranoid when she thought she saw a "Caution. Extrememly dangerous area" warning sign and bought them a map first thing when they had stopped to get gas.

"Ok, now, we can continue the way we are going, or, we could..." Rory started, but then noticed her mother dialing a number on her cell phone. "What are you doing?"

"Calling Sookie." Lorelai said as she put the phone to her ear.

"Why?"

"Well, in all the craziness, I forgot to tell her about the... and she's probably wondering where I am right now."

"Oh." Rory said, nodding her head.

"Hey Sookie, it's me." Lorelai said once she heard Sookie's voice.

_"Oh, hey honey. Where are you? I figured you'd be here by now." Sookie said._

"Listen, Sook, Rory and I are going to be out of town for a couple of days."

_"Really? Is Max with you? Are you eloping? Oh, Lorelai, why didn't you tell me? Oh well, I guess I can just save the cake for until you guys get back."_

"No, Sookie, I'm not eloping."

_"You're not? But, but, you're getting married this weekend." Sookie said, but Lorelai remained silent. "You are getting married this weekend, right?"_

"No." Lorelai said quietly. "I'm not."

_"Oh, sweetie, what happened?"_

"It's a long story and I really don't feel like telling it right now, but I just thought I'd inform you so you wouldn't freak. Do me a favor and tell the rest, ok?" she asked.

_"Of course. I'm so sorry, Lorelai."_

"It's fine. I'll talk to you later, ok? Bye."

_"Bye."_

Lorelai hung up her phone and put it back into her purse then focused her attention back on the road. The rest of the ride remained pretty silent. Neither Rory nor Lorelai really knew what to say. After seeing a couple of signs, Lorelai knew where they were headed and pulled up to an Inn about an hour later.

"Where are we?" Rory asked, getting out of the car.

"We're in Portmouth." Lorelai answered, grabbing their bags out.

The two walked up and into the The Comfort Inn. Lorelai checked them in and led them to their room. She walked in, tossed her bag on the floor, and fell back on the bed, closing her eyes.

"I'm exhausted." she said.

"So am I." Rory said, laying beside her.

"I'm also hungry."

"That too."

"Wanna go get something to eat?"

"Yeah. I think I saw a Panda Express not to far from here."

"Oh, yeah, I did, too. You wanna go get some and bring it back here?"

"Sounds good. Let's go."

xox

Later that day, Sookie was sitting at the counter at Luke's, sipping coffee. She hadn't run into Miss Patty or Babette yet, and she was hoping she would soon. She figured news would travel double the time if she told them about the wedding cancelation.

When Luke brought her food out, the bell about the diner door jingled and in walked Miss Patty and Babette. They made their way over to the counter, taking a seat while chatting about the latest gossip.

"Miss Patty, Babette, hi." Sookie said, smiling.

"Oh, hello sweetie. What are you up to?" Miss Patty asked.

"Well, I actually have a piece of news to share with you."

"You really think that's a good idea?" Luke asked her. "They'll have it all over town in the next five minutes."

"Well, that's what I'm aiming for."

"Spill, suga." Babette said.

"Yes, do tell." Miss Patty said, suddenly very interested.

"Well, I got a phone call from Lorelai today."

"Ohh, how is she doing? Is she nervous?" Miss Patty asked.

"Well, there's been a bit of misfortune." Sookie told them.

"Oh no, what is it?" Babette asked.

"The wedding's been called off."

"No!" Miss Patty gasped.

"Yeah."

"Who called it off?" asked Babette.

"I don't know. She didn't tell me."

"Well, did she tell you why it was called off."

Sookie shook her head no.

"Oh dear." Miss Patty said.

Luke, who had been listening to Sookie tell all of this, suddenly found himself thinking.

_The wedding's been called off? I wonder why. Who did it? Wow. Poor Lorelai. She must be feeling horrible right now. _

"Her and Rory took off this morning. She said they'd be out of town for a few days."

"Poor thing." Babette said. "Having her poor little heart broken just days before the wedding"

They sat their, shaking their heads sadly.

"Wait," Luke said. "She left?"

"Yeah." Sookie said.

"Where to?" he asked.

"I don't know. She didn't say. She just told me she'd be back in a couple of days and to spread news around."

"Oh, wow. Well, tell her I'm sorry." he said.

"I will." Sookie said, smiling.

_She left? She left town? This wasn't like Lorelai. She would never do something like that. She wouldn't just run away. She usually faces her problems head on. She must be really hurt. I swear to God! If that son of a bitch did anything to hurt her, I'll kill him!_ Luke thought, suddenly becoming angry.

In the next fifteen minutes, all of Stars Hollow knew about the broken engagement and of Lorelai and Rory's fleeing. It was by far the biggest and most traggic news they had gotten that week.

xox

Thirty minutes later, they entered the room. Sitting on the bed, they opened their boxes and began to eat. Neither were talking much, just focusing on their dinner.

"So... mom?" Rory asked, She had to know. She had to know what all of this was about. She'd backed off, given her mom space, but now it was time for answers.

"Hmm?" Lorelai asked, shoveling some rice into her mouth.

"Do you, uh, wanna tell me whats going on?"

Lorelai put her fork down, looking at the bed.

"Not now, Rory, ok?" she asked pleadingly.

"Mom.."

"No, I don't want to talk about it."

"But..."

Lorelai got up, placed her food in the little refrigerator, came back, and climbed under the covers.

"Goodnight Rory." she said, turning opposite her and closing her eyes.

"It's only eight-thirty."

"Well, I'm tired."

"You are not. You're avoiding the subject."

"I am not."

"Maybe you would feel better if you just talked about it."

Lorelai didn't say anything, leaving Rory just sitting there, staring at her. Rory sighed, knowing her mother wasn't going to give in.

"Fine. Goodnight." she kissed her mothers cheek and then got up, placing her food in the refrigerator as well, and climbed into bed.

_Why won't she talk to me?_ Rory thought._ I thought I was her best friend. We tell each other everything. Why is she all of the sudden shutting me out? I don't understand. Is what happened between her and Max really that bad? It would all be a lot clearer to me if she'd just tell me._

This was all new for Rory. Her mother not telling her things wasn't normal. Rory knew her mother was in a lot of emotional pain right now, she could see it. Lorelai's once bright, once full of life, energy filled, blue eyes were now dark, sad, and lifeless. Her heart had been torn right out of her chest and thrown the the ground.

It felt weird, too. Rory really liked Max. He was nice to her, and he was nice to her mom. He treated them both well. He was her almost step-dad. What had gone wrong? What had he done to her? And why? Rory never thought Max to be one who crushed hearts. He seemed to more the one who got crushed. She had a hard time seeing him play out to be a jerk.

_He might have had a reason though._ she thought.

_Yeah? Like what?_ a part of her asked.

She lay there, looking up at the ceiling, trying to come up with reasons as to why Max would call off the wedding. None came to mind. She thought about the last few days. Had there been anything different between them?

_Well, mom calling dad at her bachelorette party had been a little strange. But, I guess she just felt bad for not having informed him of it all. I mean, he did deserve to know that there was going to be another father figure around permanently._

Rory sighed, she'd just have to wait until her mother was ready to tell her. Until then, it was best if she got some sleep.

-----

**A/N:** Did you like it? Do tell by clicking that pretty little purple button down below!


	3. His secret life

**A/N:** I'm taking the story where I want it to go from here, now. There isn't going to be the Harvard visit in this fic, so you know. You guys, I am so, so, so sorry! I just went back to make a few changes in chapter two and realized I completely messed up! I know you must have gotten really confused about the whole Sookie thing. I changed it now, so it makes more sense.

-----

Rory came out of the bathroom the next morning showered, dressed, and ready to begin the day. As she walked out, she noticed her mother sitting up in bed, an expression of sadness on her face.

"I think I'm ready to talk now." Lorelai said in a monotone voice.

Rory quickly walked over to the bed, sitting on it and placing a hand on her mothers arm, encouraging her to go on. Lorelai took a deep breath before speaking.

"You know how I got home late the other day? The day I had the freak out and told you we'd be taking a road trip?" she asked.

"Yeah." Rory said, nodding.

"Well, I was at Max's. He had called earlier and told me he had something important to tell me."

Lorelai paused before continuing.

"So, after work, I headed over there. When I got there, he opened the door. He had a sort of guilty look on his face. I decided not to think anything of it, though." she said. "He told me to come in, and then we sat on his couch."

xox

_Max closed his hands, and then brought them apart, setting them on his knees before bringing them together again. He seemed really nervous, which was making Lorelai a little uncomfortable. She didn't know what to think, so she just waited for him to talk._

_"Lorelai." he began._

_"Yeah?"_

_"I, uh, I wanted to talk to you today about something very important." he said._

_"I know, you told me over the phone earlier."_

_"Yeah, I-I know. This is just a little hard for me to say." Max said nervously._

_Lorelai, who had been feeling a weird vibe ever since her arrival, started to get worried. This definitely couldn't be a good thing if Max was having difficulty saying whatever it was he wanted to say._

_"Max, what is it? You know you can tell me anything." she said softly._

_"Lorelai, I, uh, I've been lying to you." he confessed._

_"Lying to me?" she asked, taken aback._

_"Yes, well, no. Actually, I've been hiding something from you. Or... um... rather someone, not something."_

_Lorelai's heart began to thump inside of her chest. Someone. He had been hiding 'someone' from her. Who was this 'someone' and why was he hiding them from her? Max looked at Lorelai and saw a frightened expression on her face. He could tell that she was dreading the answer from him, yet strongly anticipating it as well._

_"Lorelai, I'm married. I have a wife, her name is Katherine. Now, before you jump to conclusions here, let me explain. When I met you, Kathy and I were going through really tough marital difficulties. We had been seperated at the time, and we both agreed to see other people to see whether or not it would work out between the two of us. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you wouldn't give me a chance. I was pretty certain things with Kathy and I weren't going to work out at all. Well, things between you and I were pretty good, and then we broke up. Kathy, who hadn't been seeing anyone at the time, and I, decided to give us a second chance. Well, it still didn't work out, and then you came back. After that, I asked you to marry me, not realizing that I was still currently married to another woman. As soon as you said yes, I filed for a divorce with Kathy. It's been months now and I was positive the divorce would be finalized before we got married. Well, I soon came to find out it would not. My lawyer called me yesterday and told me that it would be at least another month before the divorce would be finalized." he paused to look at Lorelai. Her face showed one of complete and utter shock. A stricken expression, as if she had been slapped right across the face. "Kathy knew we were engaged, and so I called her up. I asked her what I should do, that she knew we were getting married in four days. She said the only thing I could do was to tell you the truth."_

_Max took a deep breath, dreading what he was about to say next._

_"Lorelai, not only am I telling you the truth right now, but I also have something else to tell you. During our little seperation, breakup, whatever you want to call it, I got back together with Kathy, as you know. Well, we ended up sleeping together. I know what you're probably thinking. That I lied to you, told you I didn't sleep with anyone the night I proposed to you. Well, I did lie. I lied because I was afraid. And I am very sorry for that, I really am." he said, looking up at her once more before continuing. "Kathy's pregnant. She just told me about it yesterday. Lorelai, I love you very much, but..."_

_Lorelai shook her head, not wanting to hear the rest. _

_"Don't." she pleaded._

_"Now, Lorelai, please. I'm sorry, I really and truly am. But, Kathy is still my wife, and she's carrying my child. And... I think a little part of me still has some kind of feelings for her."_

_"I said don't!" Lorelai said angrily, standing up from the couch._

_She couldn't believe this. Of all the worst case senerios she'd been thinking of since Max had told her he'd been lying to her, not one had come anything close to this one. This, this was beyond unreal. She couldn't believe she had dated and been engaged to a married man. A man who lied to her, completely betrayed her trust. This was possibly the worse thing that could happen to her in such a case. Such a case as being dumped the week of her wedding._

_"I'm sorry. I just can't marry you. I'm sorry." he said, standing up as well, giving her an apologetic look._

_"You are not! Do not tell me you're sorry. Max, I can't believe you!" she yelled, tears springing to her eyes. "You dated me, proposed to me, told me you loved me. And all this time you've been married! How could you, Max? How could you?"_

_"I was scared. I didn't think-"_

_"You're right. You didn't think. If you would have thought, you would have had the decency to tell me all of this in the first place. Our whole relationship, our whole engagement, it's all been a lie. I can't believe you were actually going to marry me, marry me, and never tell me any of this! I trusted you, Max. I trusted you! I trusted you enough to let you in my life, in my daughters life. And this is what I get in return? And, here you stand before me, having the nerve to tell me you love me! I-I can't handle this right now. I can't see or talk to you. I-I-I have to go."_

_With that, Lorelai grabbed her purse off the couch, quickly made her way to the door, slamming it on her way out. She climbed into her car, attempting to put the key in the ignition. Her vision was blurred through tears and she was being a real clutz. She had to get away, she didn't want to be anywhere within a five hundred mile radius of Max. _

xox

"And, so, now we're here." Lorelai said, wiping a few tears away from her eyes.

Rory sat there stunned. She couldn't believe what her mother had just told her. It was all too much for her right now. She was overwhelmed with anger, hatred, and hurt. This was the least she had expected out of Max, her English teacher, her mothers ex-fiance, her would have been step-father. For a moment, she just sat silently, letting everything she had just been told sink in.

"Mom," Rory said barely above a whisper before wrapping her arms around her mother. "I am so, so, so sorry. I-I can't believe that this happened, that he did this to you."

"I know." Lorelai said, squeezing her daughter closer to her. "But, it's even worse than this."

"What do you mean?" Rory asked confused.

"I feel horrible, absolutely horrible, Rory. You don't even know. I'm an awful person." Lorelai choked out.

"Mom, what are you talking about? You are not an awful person, Max is the awful person." she told her.

"No, Rory, you don't understand. You remember the night I called your dad?"

"The night of your bachelorette party?"

"Mhmm."

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Well, I had to get away from you all. Mom was going on and on about how she wanted to try her wedding dress on every night and how deeply in love she was with dad. I just couldn't take it. I felt horrible because I never wanted to try on my dress, and that just made me feel awful. I sat there and listened to her talk, and all this time my dress was still in its cover, hanging in my room. Still untouched since the day I bought it, which was months ago."

"Mom, I'm not seeing the point here. You've got me in a fog." Rory said.

"I didn't love him, Rory. I didn't love him, and yet I still said yes. I got engaged to him, planned our wedding, I did all of that and I never even loved him." Lorelai said, beginning to cry again.

It was true, everything she said was true. She never had loved Max, never. But, she thought that by the time they got married, that she would have fallen in love with him. She had had strong feelings for him, but it wasn't love. She had lead him on this whole time into believing she felt the same way he did. But, everything was a lie. Abosolutely everything. She hadn't lied to him, but she hadn't been honest with him. He should have known, though. Never once had she said those three little words to him. The three magic words she had longed to say to him, but couldn't because she didn't feel that way.

She was still going to marry him, though. Even though she didn't love him, she was still going to go through with it. She figured, with time, maybe, just maybe, she'd fall in love with him. That everything she hoped for would come true. And then he brought her world crashing down the night he confessed his other life to her.

It was all too much. Everything just made her feel completely and totally awful. She wasn't in love with him, and he was married with a baby on the way. She couldn't bear it, having to deal with both of their secrets. He had been disloyal to her and she hadn't been completely honest with him. Why, why was this happening to her? Why couldn't everything just have gone the way they should have? She almost had it, _almost_ had that package she had been dreaming about. And in a puff of smoke, it had vanished.

"Maybe it's for the best. I mean, I didn't love him and he had been lying to me this whole time. I guess this is the way it should be. And, I called your dad because I realized I hadn't told him about the engagement. I felt bad because he had no idea that there would be this new guy around, this new father figure permanently in our lives. In your life. I thought I should tell him, and I couldn't stand listening another second to my mom drone on, so I took up the opportunity."

"Oh, mom. I'm so sorry. You did what was right by calling dad, but it shouldn't have happened this way. The engagement being broken off, it should have gone differently."

"I should have told him. I should have been the one to break it off long ago. I shouldn't have even accepted his proposal. Maybe then I wouldn't even know about this, maybe I wouldn't be experiencing this pain. I just feel so bad about it all."

"I know you do, I know." Rory said, rubbing her hands up and down her mothers arms.

"I'm never going to have it, Rory. The package. The whole package." Lorelai said, sobbing into her mothers arms.

"Yes, you will." Rory said certainly. "You will find Mr. Right, fall madly in love with him and you'll get married and live in a house made of cheese."

Lorelai laughed a little with a hiccup combined with it.

"A house made of cheese?" she asked, wiping away her tears.

"Well, Lane and I have concluded that the perfect house would be one made of cheese."

Lorelai smiled at her daughter and Rory smiled back.

"I love you, Rory. You always here for me, whenever I need you. You always know how to cheer me up."

"You do that for me, too. I love you, mom." Rory said, hugging her again. "Now, why don't you go take a nice, hot shower, get dressed, and I'll plan out our day. I'll plan out the best day ever."

"You really are the best friend a girl could have. The best daughter a girl could have." Lorelai told her, smiling a little.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. There's something I can mark off of my to-do list of things I need to accomplish before taking over the world." Rory said, smiling.

Lorelai smiled back, then got up and headed over to the bathroom.

-----

**A/N:** Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. You now are fully informed of why the wedding was called off. To some of you guys, I know it seemed as if I was just taking transcripts and making a few adjustments towards them. I'm sorry if that bored you, but the last two chapters were kind of necessary. But, it's all me from now on. Tell me what you think! That pretty little purple button is calling your name. Oh, and also, I'm starting a new thing with all my fics. From now on, I'd like a few critics. Just regular reviewers who can tell me what they liked, didn't like about the chapter/fic and what I can do to make the fic better. It will help me a lot. Thanks. Another thing, I'm not going to be able to update everyday, but I most certainly will try to update ASAP.


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